National Operations
Aside from routinely providing security assistance after the Schengen enlargement (AssE/SchE) which will probably continue until the end of 2011, the year 2010 was characterized by comprehensive measures carried out by the Austrian Armed Forces, following massive floods in summer, in order to avert danger, which took until the end of the year.
In addition, the focus was on heavy snowfalls and their impact, from January to March, which has almost become routine over the past few years.
1.1 Security assistance operation after the Schengen-Enlargement (sihpol AssE/SchE)
As of 22 December 2007, the purpose of this security assistance operation following the Schengen enlargement has been to provide support to the police forces in the fight against border-crossing crime in the regions bordering the Republic of Slovakia and the Republic of Hungary. This is accomplished through stationary as well as mobile observation, particularly in order to identify police-relevant incidents which are immediately reported to organs of the civil security authorities.So far, up to 1,500 soldiers had to be made available for that, while, on average, approximately 500 were employed. This security assistance operation was prolonged for the last time by the Ministerial Council Resolution of 30 October 2010. On the one hand this resolution limited the area of operation and on the other hand it called for a gradual reduction of the troops employed there, currently amounting to 2 companies with 4 platoons each, cooperating closely with the security authorities of both federal provinces. In the process of discontinuing the operation by the end of 2011, particular attention has to be paid to balanced personnel measures on part of the Ministry of the Interior, when establishing the future structures of the police forces in these regions in order to steer the reduction phases. With the implementation of the new concept, starting in mid-December 2010, also the helicopter operation ("owl”) was discontinued. The area of operation comprises the municipal districts of Gänserndorf and Bruck/Leitha in Lower Austria as well as Neusiedl, Eisenstadt/surroundings, Mattersburg and Oberpullendorf in Burgenland.
For the further development following phases are planned:
- Phase 1: January - June, total force: 1,000, with 500 in the area of operation.
- Phase 2: July - September, total force: 500, with 400 in the area of operation.
- Phase 3: October - December, step-by-step reduction to 250, with additional forces for the deconstruction of the military installations.
Until now, approximately 18,200 soldiers have served in this operation. The fact that the soldiers mainly patrol the villages and the stretches along the lines of communication in the hinterland makes them more visible for the local population, as opposed to the previous operation, which has a positive effect concerning the population’s subjective security perception.
During their daily patrols the soldiers carried out 77 life-saving measures, made approximately 2,800 security-relevant observations and reported 2,200 cases to the police.
1.2 Additional security assistance operations (sihpol AssE)
In 2010, the Austrian Armed Forces carried out a so-called "Anthrax” operation, although the chemicals in question turned out to be less harmful than originally expected. In addition, there was only one helicopter-assisted operation supporting the police in search of a missing person.1.3 Assistance operations in disaster relief (AssE/KatHi)
In 2010, soldiers of the Austrian Armed Forces spent some 13,000 man-work days with roughly 139,000 man-work hours in disaster relief operations following natural catastrophes and accidents of exceptional magnitude.The main effort of providing support was the removal of flood damages, mainly in Lower Austria and Styria, starting at the end of May 2010.
The largest operation last year was carried out between 18 July and 27 August 2010 in the vicinity of the Sölktal valley. During this operation, 198 meters of bridges were built; 5,000 meters of creeks were cleared; 400 cubic meters of wood were used to stabilize slopes; 10 blasts were carried out for the reconstruction of roads, while the Air Force spent 114 flight hours to transport more than 1,000 personnel and more than 25 tons of cargo.
In addition to that, soldiers of the Austrian Armed Forces - especially from the Engineer branch, supported by the Air Force - assisted the respective authorities in various ways throughout the remainder of the year, be it by extinguishing wood fires, removing drift wood under bridges, constructing temporary bridges, blasting rocks, or searching for buried people.
The evaluation of the last ten years clearly shows how different the demands were with regard to the different natural catastrophes. The large-scale operations required a large number of soldiers for relatively short periods of time, whereas many scattered single incidents required only a few but all the more so specialized troops for relatively long periods of time.
1.4 Operational aspects of airspace surveillance and airspace security
In 2010, AUSTRO CONTROL GmbH, in cooperation with the MoD, permitted roughly 34,900 over-flights by foreign military aircraft, out of which roughly 8,000 were actually carried out.Military Priority "Alpha” (Prio "A”)-Flights:
Prio "A” flights are conducted on the basis of § 145 a LFG concerning the identification of aircraft. Such flights are launched when communication gets lost (COMLOSS) or when aircraft are suspected to violate Austrian air sovereignty.
In 2010, a total of 47 Prio "A” flights were conducted.
- Out of those 11 aircraft were identified to violate Austrian air sovereignty. In one case a military aircraft was rejected by the civil airspace control, as it had no valid entrance permission. During the ensuing attempt to enter Austrian airspace, anyhow, a Prio "A” flight was ordered for the purpose of identification. Eventually, however, the aircraft turned off before entering Austrian airspace and continued in the direction of Switzerland.
- 35 aircraft that had temporarily lost communication with the civil airspace control and therefore posed a risk to air safety were successfully intercepted.
Military Priority "Bravo” (Prio "B”) Flights:
Those flights are conducted for airspace surveillance, especially during airspace security operations and for border surveillance, in accordance with § 2 section 1 lit c and lit d of the Defense Act of 2001, including in and out-flights to mission areas.
In 2010, a total of 3 Prio "B” flights were conducted.
Combat Air Patrol (CAP):
Particularly within the framework of major events, such as the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which Austria routinely supports Switzerland in securing the airspace by reinforcing airspace surveillance, the Austrian Air Force provides its EBs section to consolidate the situation and reduce the reaction time within an assigned airspace area. In 2010 approximately 170 such CAPs were flown, among other things in the course of surveying restricted areas.
1.5 Support services provided to the public
Last year the services provided to the public ranged from supporting the Austrian Skiing Association to training search and rescue dogs for joint operations with AFDRU and supporting charity events as well as accomplishing special tasks, such as setting up D-bridges and surveying borderlines.Last year’s highlights include the blasting of an old mill in the centre of the community of Seefeld-Kadolz, on 29 May 2010, by specialists of the Institute for Engineers at the Land Forces School and the construction of a 60-meter-long class 1 bridge in Raabs/Thaya, in October, by the Engineer Battalion 3 in Melk, which involved a comprehensive diving operation. Accomplishing these tasks, however, gained the engineer elements that were employed valuable experience.